Clyne



Feb. 5, 1963 J. CLYNE SHIRT COLLAR AND SUPPORT THEREFOR Filed Jan. 23, 1961 FIG. 3

FIG. 1

INVENTOR JOSEPH CLYNE BY j ATTORNEY Joseph Clyne, Bronx, N.Y.,

m 3,076,198 Patented Feb. 5., 1963 3,076,198 SHIRT COLLAR AND SUPPORT THEREFOR assignor to Apparel Patent Co. Inc., New .York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 23, 1961, Ser. No. 84,398

1 Claim. (Cl. 2132) 'My invention relates to improvements in shirt-type garments and more particularly to a shirt and collar construction adapted to give the'collar a neat appearance, especially when the shirt is Worn with a tie.

Various types of constructions have been provided for securing the ends of a collar, such as the button-down type of soft collar where the body of the shirt is provided with buttons and the corners of the collar are provided with buttonholes, so that the corners of the collar are buttoned to the body of the shirt. Buttondown type soft collars are neat under some circumstances, but under other circumstances, they tend to bulge outwardly. Cross pins have been used for securing the ends of a shirt collar together and which extend under the tie, but they are objectionable because they mar the collar and tend to hold the knot of the tie away from the front of the shirt. It has also been proposed to provide tabs attached to the ends of the collar and secured together under. the tie. Devices of this type, however, are not easy to manipulate and often show at the sides of the tie.

Having in mind the foregoing disadvantages with respect to prior constructions, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a shirt and collar construction which includes means for holding the end edges of the collar closely adjacent to the body of the shirt without interfering in any way with the tie.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collar having a neat appearance when worn with a tie and which includes means for holding the ends of the collar closely adjacent to the body of the shirt and the knot of the tie.

In accordance with the invention, the improved shirt construction is of the type provided with a fold-down collar, including a neckband portion and a cape extending around and down over the neckband, the cape having spaced end edges at the front of the shirt, and means for individually holding the end edge portions of the cape of the collar closely adjacent the body of the shirt. In this construction, the holding means comprises a separate, independently-acting snap fastener means for each of the end edge portions, a first element of the snap fastener means being attached on the underside of the end edge portion of the cape and approximately midway along the end edge of the cape, a second element of the snap fastener means being attached to the neckband portion directly opposite the first element. Stifiening stay means in the cape back the first element and extend for a substantial portion of the height of the cape.

The details of the improved construction according to the invention are described hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a broken front view of a shirt, with a tie in place, constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG, 1 showing a slightly modified construction;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing a modified construction of the independently-acting holding means; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIGS; 1 and 2, a shirt 10 is provided with an attached collar 12, including a neckband 14 and a cape 16, which folds down over and around the neckband. The shirt and collar combination, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a tie 18 extending generally between the end edges 20 of the cape 16. The end edge portions are provided with stays 22, and they and the neckband are provided with cooperating snap fastener elements for securing the end edge portions closely adjacent the tie and closely adjacent the neckband and body of the shirt. In FIG. 1 the corner of the collar at the right is folded back to show a female snap fastener element 24 attached to the neckband and a male snap fastener element 26 attached to the underside of the end edge portion of the collar at an intermediate point approximately midway of the length of the end edge 20.

The end edge portion of the collar at the left in FIG. 1 is unfastened, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 2 shows the various layers of fabric comprising the neckband and the cape of the collar sewed together in a conventional manner. The cape comprises inner and outer layers 28 and 30 while the neckband includes outer and inner layers 32 and 34 sewed to the cape 12 and the body of the shirt. The female snap fastener element 24 is secured to the outer layer 32 of fabric of the neckband at or near the lower seam and may be secured before the layers are sewed together and to the body of the shirt. The male snap fastener element 26 is secured to the inner layer of fabric 28 of the cape of the collar inside of or behind the stay 22, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The element 26 may be attached before the cape of the collar is closed and secured to the neckband 14.

It is relatively easy to fasten the snap fastener elements 24 and 26 bypressing them together, even with the tie in place, and when they are fastened, the end edge portions of the collar are held closely adjacent to the collarband and body of the shirt directly along the sides of the tie, so that a very neat and pleasing appearance is obtained. When it is desired to remove the tie, all that is necessary is to pull out on the corners of the collar to unfasten the snap fasteners. The collar shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be a soft or a starched or stiff collar. If a particular wearer of the collar does not wish to snap the edge portions of the collar to the neckband, the shirt may be worn without snapping the snap fasteners, thereby providing a two-way collar. Even though the end edge portions of the collar are not held in place, the snap fastener elements are not normally visible, and they are never visible when fastened and do not interfere in any way with the tie.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a shirt and collar construction of the sports shirt type in which the collar 12 is a onepiece structure including inner and outer layers 36 and 38, the neckband portion of which is sewed to the body of the shirt. In this instance the female snap fastener element 24 is at the attachment seam, while the male element 26' is secured to the cape of the collar as in FIGS. 1 and 2. A decorative cap 40 of known type is attached through the outer layer 38 to the outer portion of the male element 26 to give the appearance shown in FIG, 3. The decorative cap 40 may be a white or colored insert having the appearance of a stud.

The collar and shirt structure shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises a collar 12" in which the outer layer 42 is integral with and forms the inner layer of the neckband portion as in FIG. 4. The inner layer 44 of the cape portion extends to the upper portion of an outer neckband layer 46 where a seam secures them to the layer 42. The lower edges of the neckband layer 46 and neckband portion of the layer 42 are sewed to the body 10" of the shirt.

The independently-acting holding means illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 comp-rises a narrow strip of material such as fabric or tape 48 extending along the underside of each end edge portion of the cape of the collar, the ends of which are sewed to the layer of fabric 44 or to both layers 42 and 44. The upper end of the strip 48 is preferably attached near the bend of the cape while the lower end is attached at a point normally opposite the lower portion of the neckband layer 46. The strip 48 is sutficiently long to accommodate the portion of the tie 5% which extends around the neckband, in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6. The strips 48 are preferably located slightly inwardly from the end edges of the cape so that they are never visible. They may have a width of about inch and be only slightly longer than the shortest distance between their end seams so that they form a sort of loop around the inner surface of the tie. The strips 48 are preferably non-elastic but may have slight stretch to accommodate the band of the tie but without bulging the collar.

When putting on a tie, it is inserted through a strip 43 on one side brought around the neckband layer 46 and through the other strip 48. When the tie is knotted and the knot drawn up to normal position, the strips are pulled in against the neckband portion of the collar and hold the end edge portions of the cape of the collar closely adjacent to the body of the shirt and knot of the tie. The strips 48 are not visible and do not interfere with the tie but, in fact, cooperate with the tie to give a neat appearance.

I claim:

In a shirt including a body and an attached collar having a neckband portion "and an overlying cape, the cape including inner and outer layers of fabric material and extending around and down over the neckband portion of the collar, the cape having spaced end edges at the front of the shirt; the improvement comprising separable snap fastener means for selectively holding each end edge portion of the cape close to the neckband portion and the body of the shirt, and stiifening stay means wider than the snap fastener means and of a length to extend for a substantial portion of the height of the cape located between the inner and outer layers of fabric material in each end edge portion of the cape, each snap fastener means including two cooperating elements one of which is attached only to the inner layer of the fabric of the cape along its end edge portion and is located on the underside of said end edge portion in back of said stiffening stay means therein and approximately midway along the end edge of the cape while the other element is attached to the neckband portion directly opposite said one element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 962,665 Quigley June 28, 1910 1,400,339 Wright Dec. 13, 1921 2,059,998 Price Nov. 3, 1936 2,599,421 Wilm June 3, 1952 2,668,295 Garrido Feb. 9, 1954 2,975,428 Pfeffer et a1 Mar. 21, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 337,542 Great Britain Nov. 6, 1930 

